Brits believe early months of 2010 would be a struggle for their personal finances

A big majority of the British public believe the first few months of the coming New Year would be a challenge for their personal finances. This was revealed in a new study released by Gocompare.com which polled Brits on their economic outlook next year.

According to the study, less than one in every five Brits or less than 20 percent of the population think the UK would move out of recession in the early part of 2010 with a huge majority believing it would be economically challenging at the start of next year.

The result of the research was released as headlines claim that Britain is now the only G20 nation still in recession and it seems Brits seeing light at the end of our economic tunnel are vastly outnumbered by those who expect plenty more hardship to come.

Lee Griffin, business development director of Gocompare.com, said, “News that the UK is now the only major world economy still in recession will only reinforce most people’s belief that this recession is a long way from being over. Whilst the Government would like us to spend our way out of recession we would stress that it’s important for consumers to spend wisely and to compare their purchases to ensure they are getting the best deal. Saving money on things such as car and home insurance will allow consumers to save more for a rainy day, pay off some debt or just treat themselves now and again. By the look of this research, lots of us could do with a bit of cheering up just now.”

Gocompare.com surveyed 1,500 people representing a cross section of UK adults in December to gauge their sentiments on the national economy.

The results of the survey were as follows:

• 52.2 percent of respondents thought that the UK economy will remain in recession for most of 2010.
• 29 percent thought that the UK economy will remain in recession for all of 2010
• Just 18.6 percent thought that the UK will come out of recession early in 2010

Across the country there were marked differences in confidence with just 13.3 percent of people from the Tyne Tees region believing that the recession could be over early next year compared to 21.8 percent of people from the Greater London area and 21.2 percent of Scots. 40.5 percent of people from Tyne Tees thought the recession would last all of next year.

It also seems that younger people are more optimistic about our economic outlook. 23.5 percent of 25 to 34 year olds expect a recovery early in 2010 compared to just 15.2 percent of 35 to 44 year olds. Over one third (35.1 percent) of 45 to 54 year olds believe the recession will last all of next year.